Harem management! It's a skill. Like golf, it takes patience and discipline. Didn't 'Tiger know?

Are Tiger’s mistresses merely cashing in—or did his cheating style spur them to seek revenge? Tracy Quan on clues that the golf star broke the rules of adultery and sealed his own fate.

You may wonder how Rachel Uchitel could be angry with Tiger Woods for playing around with other women, especially when her friends say she's savvy enough to be seeing other men herself. People magazine reports that the golf pro's alleged mistress was "none too happy" about other women he may have been seeing. This isn't as daft as it sounds.

Any man who successfully manages a harem knows he must be on the lookout for such resentments, and prevent them from flaring up. But Rachel's dismay—reports of which may seem odd in light of news that her main function for Tiger was to provide him with other women—looks like part of a pattern. Maybe the problem is Tiger's inability to navigate the choppy waters of erotic attachment. Another alleged mistress, Mindy Lawton, has called Tiger "selfish" and "heartless." If you view all cheating husbands as subhuman, her assessment is to be expected, but I found the comment startling. I don't believe Tiger is truly heartless. If he cultivates a harem without taking responsibility for it, he is, however, careless.

The skills required to maintain a happy harem take practice, patience, and a bit of internal discipline, not unlike perfecting one’s golf game.

Pasha, playboy, or paying customer? A man with an appetite for more than one woman must decide what he wants to be. Philandering men—even celebs—are not uniformly arrogant jerks. Those with a gift for harem management can leave a woman with warm, nostalgic feelings, an afterglow of romantic gratitude. An essential skill for men who choose to cheat, which some are lucky to be born with, is the ability to conduct a love affair without turning the "other woman" into a potential enemy.